Publications

In the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA USA Jakub Szymkowiak and colleagues from Forest Biology Centre AMU showed that once initiated, beech reproduction is not reduced by drought. Click here to go to the artickle.

An article by Sarkhan Ibrahimov, Renata Dondajewska-Pielka, Lech Kaczmarek, Aleksandra Pełechata, and Mariusz Pełechaty, published in the Journal of Environmental Management, summarises the results of a long-term study on the dynamics of water quality in Lake Góreckie, located in Wielkopolski National Park. The study revealed an unexpected and distinct increase in water transparency, accompanied by a decline in phytoplankton…

In an article published in Nature Climate Change, researchers from the Forest Biology Center at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań show that climate change is leading to a decline in seed production by trees. Seed production in major European tree species has declined by more than 30% over three decades, even after accounting for the…

A paper by Freerk Molleman and Urszula Walczak from the Department of Systematic Zoology and published in Proceedings B and collaborators, shows that two species of tropical butterfly both respond to humidity, but using different mechanisms. Experiments in which humidity during rearing was varied show that adult eyespot size in one species (Mycalesis mineus) responded…

A paper published in Nature Ecology and Evolution by Soumen Mallick and colleagues, including Freerk Molleman from our institute, uses detailed satellite images from forests in Germany to show that trees tend to show delayed budburst the spring after they have been severely attacked by caterpillars. They also showed that this delay then reduces insect…

Diversifying selection on a key regulator of missing-self innate immunity Rocco F. Notarnicola et al. (2026, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag082) show how an innate immune regulator (CFH), thought to be conserved by its interactions with self-components, is instead very polymorphic and under diversifying selection, likely due to selective pressures from pathogens like Borrelia highjacking it to evade immunity….

In the study published in Ecology Letters  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70377 Neha Pandey and colleagues report that populations in which males are aggressive and armoured in lethal weapons are less stable compared to populations in which males are benign. Populations with aggressive males are mores sensitive to population disturbances and show slower recovery. This research was funded by NCN grant UMO-2020/39/B/NZ8/00152/4…

In their recent article published in Evolutionary Applications (DOI: 10.1111/eva.70180), Bartosz Łabiszak and Witold Wachowiak examined adaptive variation in Scots pine across a wide environmental gradient in Northern and Central Europe and assessed the extent of genomic offset under projected future habitat conditions. Their findings highlight a strong role of temperature in shaping population-level adaptation and reveal…

Two recent articles by Prof. Wachowiak’s team (Molecular Ecology and BMC Plant Biology) provide complementary evidence on the repeatability of hybridization between Pinus sylvestris and Pinus mugo. Analyses of thousands of individuals from multiple contact zones show that, despite environmental differences, early stages of hybrid speciation follow a similar pattern. The studies document widespread, asymmetric gene flow and strong selection…

Publication by Michał Bogdziewicz et al. engages with a recent paper by Meersch and Wolkovich, to discuss how the summer solstice serves as a fixed, range-wide cue that synchronizes temperature sensing for flowering in European beech. Unlike growth processes, where local adaptation to environmental conditions is beneficial, masting relies on synchrony among individuals to enhance…